Indian Court Dismisses Petition By Woman Who Married A Hindu But Claims She Retained Her Zoroastrian Religion

A court in India has dismissed a petition by a Parsi (Zoroastrian) woman who had married a Hindu man and who wanted a court order that would assure her right to enter Parsi religious places to witness the last rites for her parents when they die.  The Valsad Parsi Anjuman Trust had previously barred another woman under similar circumstances from attending her parents' last rites at a fire temple and tower of silence.  Indian Express and Ahmedabad Mirror reported yesterday that a 3-judge panel of the Gujarat High Court dismissed the petition.  Two of the three judges held that there is a presumption under the Special Marriage Act that a woman acquires the religion of her husband, unless she obtains a court declaration that she has maintained her prior religion. Justice Kureshi, while concurring in the dismissal of the petition, disagreed with the majority on the question of whether the wife should be presumed to have changed her religion.